When we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the web. Here are some of the best adventure links we’ve discovered this week.
Astronauts of the Underworld: Caves are one of the last places on Earth where pure exploration is possible. When you enter an unexplored cave, it’s possible that no person has ever been there before. Katherine Latham speaks to some of the world’s foremost cave explorers about their discoveries, spending months underground, and why we need to start protecting caves.
Who Holds The Yosemite Triple Crown’s Speed Record?: The Yosemite Triple Crown links El Capitan, Half Dome, and Mount Watkins. It is one of the hardest challenges in big-wall climbing.
On October 20, Tanner Wanish and Mike Vaill completed it in 17 hours and 55 minutes. They took 35 minutes off the previous record. They are one of just eight groups who have completed the challenge in under 24 hours, and Wanish has only been climbing for four-and-a-half years.
Northern lights. Photo: Stephanie Vermillion
Chasing the northern lights
Northern Lights Hunting with an Indigenous Tracker: Joe Buffalo Child first saw the aurora when he was six. His people believe they bring messages from their ancestors. Buffalo Child feels a deep connection with aurora and has been sharing this for two decades as an aurora hunter. Stephanie Vermillion joins him to see the northern lights in Yellowknife in the Canadian subarctic.
The Pine Hunters: Scotch pine trees once covered large swathes of the Scottish Highlands. Only a few remain. The Wild Pine Project is trying to locate the remaining pines and save the last fragments of our ancient temperate rainforests.
Riccardo Scarian. Photo: Riccardo Scarian
Forty years climbing
Riccardo Scarian — The Sky Has No Limits: Riccardo Scarian speaks about his first 40 years of climbing. When he started, climbing was not fashionable. The early days were more about exploring than competing. In the years since, he has been a professional athlete, part of the Alpine Rescue of the Guardia di Finanza, opened many new routes, and he is now considering becoming an alpine guide.
90-Year-Old Man Climbs England’s Tallest Mountain: Derald Barham has celebrated his 90th birthday by climbing Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England. With his four sons and 20-month-old great-grandchild, he made it to the top 62 years after he first climbed the peak.
Photo: Photo: Jill Heinerth/Canadian Geographic
Shackleton’s other ship
Finding Quest: Ernest Shackleton died in 1922 on Quest. Unlike Endurance, this ship was largely forgotten. A team set out to find it, the last of Shackleton’s ships, somewhere in the Labrador Sea. This is the detailed story of the search.
Hawaii Teen Rescued After Night At Sea: Kahiau Kawai was paddling with his high school team when he capsized in high winds and lost his paddle. After 11.5 hours clinging to his surfski kayak and treading water, he was rescued. Though severely dehydrated and hypothermic, Kawai made a quick recovery.
